I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 138 together.
The report on the 2011 Housing Needs Assessment contains details on waiting list numbers for each local authority which were recorded from 1993 to 2011 under the tri-annual social housing needs assessment carried out under Section 9 of the Housing Act 1988. The report is available on my Department’s website at http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,27864,en.pdf.
The latest social housing needs assessment was carried out as at 7 May 2013 in accordance with section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the results are also available on my Department’s website at http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,34857,en.pdf.
The 2013 figures are the most up-to-date figures available on waiting list numbers, which are subject to ongoing fluctuation due to households being allocated housing and new households applying for housing support. However, the 2013 results cannot be directly compared to previous results given that this latest summary employed different methodologies and was the first to be carried out under the 2011 Social Housing Assessment Regulations.
In terms of addressing the waiting list numbers, m y Department intend s to engage further with the Housing Agency and local authorities in terms of carrying out additional detailed analyses of the findings so as to help address the housing need identified in the 2013 assessment. Furthermore, the Government’s 2011 Housing Policy Statement clearly outlines that the priority for Government is to meet the most acute needs of households applying for social housing support. The Government is responding to these needs through a variety of mechanisms and more flexible funding models. To maximise the social housing gain from constrained resources, the Social H housing Leasing Initiative and the Rental Accommodation Scheme each play their part and I am fully committed to capturing social housing gain from private developments. Alongside expanding the role of the Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in terms of acquisitions and construction, other mechanisms will include options to purchase within the leasing model and build to lease.
With regard to households on waiting lists in private rented accommodation, I will shortly be bringing legislation to the House to provide for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) programme which will provide a new framework for the provision of rental assistance. The programme is designed to bring all of the social housing services provided by the State together under the local authority system, with local authorities being responsible for all households with an established housing need and ensuring significant efficiencies in the provision of rental assistance.
In 2014, funding for housing, at over €587 million, is effectively maintained at 2013 levels. This includes a €50 million capital stimulus to support construction and related programmes, primarily in the housing area, including €30 million to recommence a State house building programme; €10 million for an unfinished housing estate resolution project; and €10 million for housing adaptation grants. I expect the final output across all social housing programmes for 2014 to be in the region of 5,000 new housing units.
In March 2014, I announced the approval of some 56 social housing construction projects with an overall value of some €68 million under the Local Authority housing construction programme for 2014-2015. This new construction programme will deliver 449 new units of accommodation for people on the housing waiting list. Projects were selected for approval on the basis of the proposals submitted to my Department by the local authorities, the relative priority afforded to each of these projects and the overall level of housing need locally. Also, last month I announced details of a new measure with funding of €15 million which will be invested in bringing some 950 vacant and boarded-up local authority houses back into productive use.
I also intend to announce details very shortly of the allocations to local authorities under my Department’s Capital Assistance Scheme for the construction and acquisition of housing for persons with specific categories of need over the 2014-2015 period. Some €35 million is being set aside for this programme which is intended to deliver in the region of 230 new homes.
I remain committed to continuing to develop innovative and sustainable approaches to the provision of social housing.
